Hiccup didn't know what to feel other than anger.
Maybe it was completely ignorant to be angry at someone who had already apologized for the wrong they did, but he was. He was angry at his friends. He was angry at Berk. He was angry at Astrid.
The more he thought about it, the less focused he became on the race he was supposed to be participating in. Ever since waking up after being in a coma for a week after the fight with the Red Death, he had been bombarded with apologies by villagers, but it wasn't so much that. He had also been bombarded by blasts of the not-so-distant-past.
Useless. Worthless. Weak. Pathetic. Excuse for a viking. Mistake. Screw up. Runt. You don't belong here. Stoick's little embarrassment. You're hopeless! The most useless viking ever known.
All those names and insults. It wasn't so much the insults that hurt him as much as it was the fact that it was his own people who created them in it of themselves. The people from the island he was born into.
Wasn't fate cruel?
It wasn't his fault he was different. It wasn't his fault he was made of brain instead of brawn. It wasn't his fault people didn't accept him. It wasn't his fault he didn't fit in. He didn't want to be different. He didn't want to stand out. He didn't want any of things he was.
Then why was he?
Yes, fate was cruel.
The world would be better if you never existed! You should leave. No one would miss you if you did. Hiccup the Useless!
"Hiccup, in front of you!" Astrid shouted.
Hiccup was jerked out of his thoughts - almost literally. Toothless swerved sideways, narrowly avoiding the side of a mountain.
"What was that!?" Astrid shouted. "I've been calling your name for roughly three minutes!"
"Sorry, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Just...a bit lost in thought, I guess."
"Well, don't do it again," said Astrid. "Next time, you might not be so lucky."
He didn't understand why she cared; she hadn't cared before. Why the sudden change? Of course, he had killed the Red Death, befriended a Night Fury, and saved the entire village from their doom, but still. What changed? Why did everyone care all of a sudden?
"Forget the race," said Astrid. "Let's land, if that's okay with you."
"It's fine," said Hiccup. No one would care about what I have to say anyway, he silently added.
Astrid and he directed their dragons towards the ground below. They landed in Raven Point, slightly close to where the cove was located. Astrid and Hiccup dismounted their dragons. Hiccup tried not to notice Astrid walking towards him, but it was near impossible.
"What were you thinking about?" asked Astrid.
"Nothing important," Hiccup answered.
"Well, it is important," said Astrid. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You nearly slammed into a mountainside from thinking about whatever you were thinking about. What was it?"
"Why do you care?" Hiccup said. "No one's cared about what I've had to say for fifteen years. Why do you care all of a sudden?"
Astrid looked at him, a pained look on her face.
"Oh gosh," Hiccup stuttered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Yes you did," said Astrid.
"I-I didn't," said Hiccup. "I really didn't."
"Hiccup," she said, "I thought we were past that."
"W-we are," said Hiccup. "I just...you've already apologized and everything..."
"Then what's wrong?" Astrid asked.
"It's just..." said Hiccup. He sighed. "Everyone on Berk apologized saying that they were sorry for not seeing my purpose."
"Yeah," said Astrid. "So what's the matter?"
"No one apologized for the way that they treated me," said Hiccup. "They only apologized, saying that they were sorry for not seeing the truth, for not being open...they never apologized because it was wrong to treat anyone the way they treated me."
"Maybe they just don't see it," said Astrid.
"It's not just that, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I just can't help but think...what if I had been wrong?"
"Come again?" said Astrid.
"What if I had been wrong about dragons?" said Hiccup. "What if they really were just mindless beasts who knew nothing but kill? Would things have changed? Would I have friends now, if I had been wrong?"
Astrid didn't answer.
"Answer me," said Hiccup.
She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
Hiccup gave her an "I-knew-it" look. "That's what I thought," he said. "People don't accept me for who I am."
"That's not true-"
"Yes, you know it is," said Hiccup. "They only accept me because I was right. They only accepted me because I saved them. What if I had failed? What if dragons were vicious beasts who couldn't even be trained? What if I was completely incorrect? I don't...my life would be different, wouldn't it?"
"Hiccup-"
"Stop," said Hiccup. "Just stop. You don't argue because you know I'm right. Astrid, you know I'm right. You can't deny it any longer. It's...it's been three days, and...I don't know. I don't know. That's it, I don't know! I would either be exiled or killed this time right now if I had been wrong about dragons, heir or not."
"I'm sorry, Hiccup," said Astrid. "I'm sorry I mistreated you your whole life. I...I want...I don't want to hold onto this-" She gestured not only to Hiccup, but to herself as well "-any longer. It's just tearing things up."
"I still don't know why you care," said Hiccup. "You never even answered my first question."
"I care because I was wrong," said Astrid. "Hiccup, I was wrong. I was wrong about you. I shouldn't have treated you so horribly throughout the years. I shouldn't have tried to avoid you. I should have been trying to be friends with you while you were friendless. I should have done a million things that I just didn't do, or even think about doing. I should have done something. I should have stood up for you. I should have...done something, at least. Anything was better than what I did. I'm sorry. Can...can we at least be friends?"
"Good grief, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted. "I never said we weren't friends!"
"Doesn't matter," said Astrid. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Hiccup turned to her, his piercing green eyes shining with tons of emotions Astrid couldn't read. "Well, thanks," he said. "And...I forgive you."
Astrid, without hardly thinking about it, stepped forward and hugged him. At first, Hiccup tensed, but then he returned it, wrapping his arms around the girl.
"I don't want to do that again," said Hiccup.
"And so we won't," said Astrid.
THE END
